GREECE: Dowries for the Destitute

In the mountain regions of Greece, where old
traditions die hard, a girl without a dowry has about as much chance of
getting a husband as a girl without a nose. The birth of a boy to a
poor family is celebrated in the tavern; baby girls are greeted with
laments.

To give some measure of hope to the 70,000 girls that are born each year
in Greece, King Paul and his pert, social-minded Queen Frederika have
worked out a new kind of welfare-state benefit: dowries for all. Urged
on by the King and Queen, 132 citizens' committees all over...